BO-RRRRRRRING

Oh, Lord, grass is boring to stitch!

I decided that it might be a good idea to have something to stitch on during our EGA Region's stitch-in that I didn't have to count or think about too much since the conversations tend to get lively. So I got the scaffolding of the house set up and the bare bones of the borders set in and started stitching grass.

I'm still stitching grass.

There's only so much grass you can plant in two hours, apparently.

So I'm going to find something binge-worthy on TV and try to finish the lawn today.

And also, I'm going to ignore the six rows of grass at the bottom of the sampler until later.

Before I turn the scroll bars

 I finished the top fourth of A. Carter last night.

I'm in a bit of a stitching slump at the moment, as in everything I've touched on my more complicated projects has been a problem. So, I've decided to stay with plain old cross stitch until my brain and fingers re-engage. It really helps that this is a very pretty little sampler.

One of my stitching buddies calls the small projects she works on between the ginormous things she usually tackles "palate cleansers."

So, like a lovely sorbet between courses, I'm going to work on the next section of A. Carter until I'm ready for more intense things.

Margriet Hogue

Margriet Hogue left us yesterday.

I have been stitching Margriet's reproduction samplers for about thirty years. I've been lucky enough to take classes from her, the first with the Carolina Sampler Guild decades ago, followed by sessions at Jeannine's Sampler Symposiums and events at Winterthur.

Her designs have challenged me, sometimes frustrated me, and always increased my skills, as well as deepening my fascination with Tudor and Stewart needlework.

It was always a joy to see a new pattern appear on her website. While I know that time has ended, I will treasure the projects I have stitched and have yet to do. 

I will miss her. 

A Little Buggy

 The last few days have flown by and my days have been a little discombobulated.

Thursday was one of those days when no stitching was accomplished. This domestic diva stuff is necessary but not as enjoyable as being a Stitching Fool.

Friday. I had my first class with Sara Rickards and her Sunburst crewel design. I would show you pictures of what I did in class if I hadn't ripped every stitch out afterwards. Don't ask--I didn't sleep well the night before and could not seem to make any two stitches the same size or shape nor could I follow directions. My plan is to review the taped instructions tomorrow morning and redo what I should have been able to just whip out.

Then yesterday, the Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild had a class with Jackie du Plessis, which I, of course, took via Zoom. Jackie reproduced a Berlin woodwork sampler, and the wool thread she put in the kit is absolutely luscious! Once I get the linen on the scroll frame and do a stitch or two, I'll show and tell.

I do wish Jackie hadn't said something along the lines of doing a motif an evening . . . which would mean I could finish this in a month . . . famous last words.

Which leads me to something else: If I'm in and out of the blog for a bit, I have a piece that I need to start working on which I cannot share for awhile. It's going to take some time to stitch, and that's all I can say.

Anyway, I have been doing some stitching in the evening on A. Carter 1833.

I think this child was a budding entomologist. She (or possibly he?) stitched bugs all over the place.

Butterflies I'm all down with, but what's with the beetles? They're not even ladybugs, just little brown beetles.

Crawling everywhere on the top of this sampler.

I guess it's better to see beetles stitched on a sampler than have real-life beetles wandering around the house, but still . . . 

Yuck!

Just like Christmas

 When the mail arrived yesterday, it was just like Christmas around here. I almost decided to pull out the tree so I could put the packages under it.

I got three--three!!!--sampler kits I had ordered. I'll show you the others later this week.

First of all,  A. Carter from The Scarlett House. I saw this on a shop site in the last week or so. I told myself I absolutely was not going to add another sampler kit to the stash. I was not, no way, not gonna happen.

I did. I couldn't remember where I had seen the sampler, but when you dream about stitching something, you just about have to order it. 123 Stitch had it, and they ship very quickly.

And then I sewed the linen to scroll bars and started it last night. What can I say? I am weak in the face of temptation.

It is possible that I need an intervention.

Dilemma

I finished the flower on Spot that I've been laboring over on Labor Day.

So then it was time to work on something else.

And herein lies the dilemma.

I want to do All the Things. And I want to Finish All the Things. And therefore, I spent most of the day picking things up and putting them down and moving things from one stack to another and back again.

Schedules and plans and rotations don't work for me. Neither does the carrot-and-the-stick method, like if I finish two projects, I can start a new one.

I may just write down the names of this pile of projects on little slips of paper, put them in a basket, and get Dearly Beloved to pull one, and I'll just work on that for today. At least I'll be making progress on something!

The Wall

 That's what I hit at about 8 p.m. last night.

I could not force myself to put a single, solitary stitch in this flower at that point.

Granted, I had been working on it all day. And there are 1,296 stitches per square inch.

Just writing that made me weak in the knees.

Anyway, I was planning to work on Heartsease today and maybe later do a few more stitches in the stem, but Lucy Worsley's "Queens and Kings" book arrived on the doorstep and I may have to fall into British history instead.

Striped Flower

 I was so close to getting this flower bud(?) stitched before I went to bed, but eyes and hands decided to stop working at about the same time. So, I'll finish that part today.

I'd like to say I would get the leaves and stems finished as well, but that's a lot of teeny tent stitches over one, and I think I would be overly optimistic.

And, speaking of being overly optimistic, I saw this project finished on Cathy's blog and knew I had to have it. Pdf from Lucy Beam was in my hot little hands before you could say "Lucy Beam."

I should probably substitute "Needlework" for Cross Stitch since I fall down a lot of stitching rabbit holes, but this may suffice.

Sampler September

It has occurred to me that this is Sampler September and I have yet to stitch on a sampler. I have also been remiss in keeping up with Sampler Sundays. This must be corrected!

So yesterday I pulled Spot out of her pillowcase and started a new motif:

 Because I had green in my needle after doing all the outlining, I just kept on stitching some of the sections that also use that shade. I think, though, that I may work on the flower today and save the green fill-in for the counted thread Special Interest Group (aka SIG) that EGA sponsors on Sunday.

Or maybe I'll work on Heartsease today.

Or maybe I'll go back to bed for awhile. I woke up after about five hours of sleep and couldn't get settled again, so I just got up. I'm drowsy now, so maybe I can get the rest of a good night's sleep accomplished. On only five hours, I'm not safe to be around.

Spoiler!

 If you order the Frostings boxes from Tricia Nguyen at Thistle Threads and want to be surprised, go no further.

If you want to see what's in there, here it is:

The new colors in the range were introduced in the last Frostings box. This one has those colors in other types of thread.

And there are metal threads and trims of all sorts and tiny little metal bits and pieces that can be added to your embroidery--some were used on the last Christmas Tree ornament project that is a free download on the Thistle Threads site.

So, I'm going to play with threads today.

Over one?

 Remember when I said I didn't want to start either of the projects I pulled out of the stash because of all the over-one stitching?

I think that may have been just yesterday.

And this is what I ended up doing:

These are the bits that will make up the waxer pocket on Betsy Morgan's This Ones for Betty. Do you see the motif on the right? 

That pretty, delicate, little design with the hearts and leaves?

Over one.

And I stayed up hours past my bedtime to finish it, so today I feel like I have been hit by a truck which then backed up and ran over me again.

I don't think I will work on Heartsease today. Actually, I may go back to bed. 

From the Vault

 I decided to rummage around in the stash for a bit. That always seems to jump start a recovery from a stitching slump. It also meant that I could rearrange a couple of bins so I would have all my linen in one place instead of stowed into whatever bin had room. That way lies madness when you want to kit something up.

So anyway, I found a small pile of projects that sort of tickled my fancy.

Well, this has been aging quite nicely for decades. I don't remember how or when or where I acquired this kit--it may have been in the boutique for Christmas in Williamsburg in the classic days when the Hoffmans were still running things.

So, I pulled it out. And I decided to glance at the directions. 

It's beautiful and I want to stitch it, but all those intricate details are worked in cross stitch over one.

Maybe later.

Then I found this:

Again, aging for decades but one of those projects that makes my heart sing.

Also cross stitch over one with fully filled in backgrounds. Not what I'm in the mood for.

And, close to my heart, a couple of Barbara Jackson projects:

Usually I jump right on Barbara's designs, but these arrived in the months after I finished RST 1779. It was totally Queen stitch, and I swore I would not touch a project with Queen stitch in it until I recovered. I think I've recovered and can manage the few Queens in either of these projects. I also have Barbara's scissors stand to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the country, so any or all of these projects could go on the stand.

However, in the middle of the night, I thought about Heartsease, and I thought about Betsy Morgan's "This One's for Betty" and I decided to stick a needle in one or both of those when I sit down to stitch later today.

I've also decided I need to pay attention to my Three-Day Rule. I have found that my attention starts to lag after three days of focused work on any project. At one time, I thought I should just move to something else after three days. Eventually, I do go back to everything I start (even though it may take years to do so), so that may be the best way forward.

So, All That Glitters is going to wait a bit for a finish.

I think we'll all be much happier.

September Slump

 I've hit a stitching slump.

This is the extent of my stitching since last I wrote.

Phooey.

I've made lists of things I want to stitch and things I need to stitch and rearranged some of my storage bins (mainly to get all my linen bits and pieces in one place so I can find them when I want to kit something), and nothing has helped. Even the thought of starting a new sampler for Sampler September hasn't shaken me out of the malaise.

It will pass, it always does.

And I know the cure.

It's to stitch on something--anything--and that will jump start the mojo.

So I will.